readersdigest.in 101 Reader’s Digest “The good news is that KFC is donating $100 million to the Vatican. The bad news is, we have to give up the Wonder Bread account.” —planet proctor newsletter The Merriam-Webster dictionary produces a word of the day, and the folks at Fark helpfully show us how to use it in a sentence: M-W word of the day: gainsay Helpful Fark: “I’m going to eat way too much over the holidays and gainsay 3 to 5 kilos.” M-W word: abandon Helpful Fark: “Paul McCartney and Wings’ biggest hit was abandon the run.” M-W word: countenance Helpful Fark: “We were curious how many insects were in the colony, so we spent the whole day countenance.” When asked by the New York Times Book Review which writer he’d invite to a dinner party, John Cleese answered, “Mark Twain... because he said, ‘Wagner’s music is much better than it sounds,’ which I think is the greatest joke ever made.” My kid asked if he should leave something for the tooth fairy, so I need everyone to back me up that the traditional offering is a bottle of wine — @deloisivete Two mafia hit-men are walking in the woods at night. One turns to the other and says, “It’s really dark in here. I’m scared.” “You’re scared?” says the other mobster. “I have to walk out of here alone.” —Robert Love SARTORIAL SPLENDOUR If it’s true that clothes make the man, then artist Helga Stentzel proves they also make the animal. COURTESY HELGASTENTZEL.COM — @HELGA.STENtZEL Reader’s Digest will pay for your funny anecdote or photo in any of our humour sections. Post it to the editorial address, or email: [email protected]
102 june 2023 ENGLISH Veteran actor Harrison Ford reprises his role as daredevil, adventure-junkie and archaeologist Indiana Jones in INDIANA JONES AND THE DIAL OF DESTINY. In this fifth segment of the beloved series of films, Indy is on the verge of retirement and feeling out of place in a world far from the one he remembers. When his goddaughter (played by Phoebe Waller-Bridge of Fleabag fame) shows up determined to retrieve a legendary dial that can change the course of history, Indy must pick up his whip once more to keep the treasure from falling into the wrong hands, namely those of Jürgen Voller—played by Mads Mikkelsen—a former Nazi working for NASA. The film is set to be out in theatres on 29 June. HINDI Filmmakers could hardly go wrong fronting a film that has two of India’s biggest fixes—sports and drama. The popularity of movies like Lagaan, Chak De! India, and 83 certainly proves the rule and director Amit Ravindernath Sharma’s (the man behind Badhai Ho) is set to follow suit on 23 June with the release of MAIDAAN. Scored by A. R. Rahman and starring Ajay Devgn essaying the role of Syed Abdul Rahim (known as the architect of modern Indian football) and National Award winner Keerthy Suresh (making her Hindi film debut) this movie is about the golden era of Indian football, from 1952 to 1962. Films RD RECOMMENDS A still fromIndiana Jones and the Dial of Destiny Ajay Devgn as Syed Abdul Rahim in Maidaan PHOTO: (TOP) INDIAPICTURE
readersdigest.in readersdigest.in sdigest.in sdigest.in 103 Poster for the film Bloody Daddy Reader’s Digest THE DAYS This eightepisode series depicts the Fukushima Daiichi Nuclear Power Plant accident that occurred in 2011 over a period of seven days. Made from the three perspectives of the government, corporate organizations, and those who put their lives on the line, the show tries to uncover what really happened on that day and in that place. The series is on Netflix from 1 June. School Of Lies is a thriller–suspense series starring Nimrat Kaur, Varin Roopani, Vir Pachisia and Aryan Singh Ahlawat. Based on true events, it tells #WATCHLIST: 0N OUR RADAR the story of a young boy who disappears from a boarding school. The plot thickens when a slew of grim details about the school and the boy’s family come to light during the investigation. On Disney+ Hotstar from 2 June. Koji Yakusho in the web series The Days Poster for School of Lies A remake of the 2011 French film Sleepless Night, BLOODY DADDY revolves around an NCB officer (Shahid Kapoor) and his quest to save his son from a drug lord. After his team busts down a narcotics scam, the drug lord abducts the NCB officer’s son. He demands the officer retrieve a bag of cocaine from his headquarters in exchange for his son. With no other option left, the officer decides to do as he is asked, only to find that things are more complicated than he expected. A high-octane thriller that appears to parallel the adrenaline rush of the John Wick franchise, Bloody Daddy will be available for viewing on JioCinema from 9 June.
104 june 2023 Based on the tales and records found in her grandmother’s notebook, author Rimli Sengupta’s latest book weaves the story of two neighbours, Shishu and Noni, who meet as children and develop a deep friendship strengthened by their shared love of stories and poetry. Soon however their paths diverge under the dark shadow of circumstance—Noni is married off at 16, while Shishu becomes a revolutionary—and cataclysmic events— Partition, a refugee exodus, communism as well as political and social unrest in Bengal. Told through an artful fusion of imagination with history, both personal and national, Sengupta brings alive the story of Bangals—the displaced East Bengalis— and the narrative of their fractured land and lives. YOU MAY ALSO LIKE ... India’s Secret War: BSF And Nine Months To The Birth Of Bangladesh by Ushinor Majumdar (Penguin): Through exhaustive interviews with surviving veterans, Ushinor Majumdar brings his award-winning investigative reportage to this first comprehensive historical account of the role of the BSF, an elite Indian force, in the Bangladesh liberation war, which changed the course of South Asian history. A Lost People’s Archive: A Novel by Rimli Sengupta, Aleph Scope Out Epicurious by Sreelata Menon (Hachette): Using drama and humour that engages young readers, Menon breathes new life into ancient epics from cultures and countries around the world. Varavara Rao: A Life In Poetry (Vintage): Edited by N. Venugopal and Meena Kandasamy, this is Varavara Rao’s first book of poetry to be published in English. Dreams, Illusion and Other Realities by Wendy Doniger (Speaking Tiger): Scholar and indologist, Wendy Doniger analyses stories from the Puranas, Mahabharata, Ramayana and other texts to explore the role of dreams and illusions in Indian myth and philosophy. Books Reader’s Digest —COMPILED BY ISHANI NANDI
Reader’s Digestfrom left: vikram sharma, yasir iqbal readersdigest.in 105 QUOTABLE QUOTES Nothing in the future exists yet. But anything is possible right now. Including the thing you think you cannot do. —Laura McKowen, author, in the bookWe are the luckiest: the surprising magic of a sober life —Siddhartha Mukherjee, physician and author History repeats, but science reverberates. The good part about getting older is you stop trying to prove anything to anyone ... All you are in the pursuit of is collecting experiences— beautiful, fragile little soap bubbles that you store in your heart, and every once in a while, you pull one out and gaze at the delicate pictures it shows you. —Twinkle Khanna, author If you aren’t humble, whatever empathy you claim is false and probably results from some arrogance or the desire to control. But true empathy is rooted in humility and the understanding that there are many people with as much to contribute in life as you. —Anand Mahindra, entrepreneur You have to use your voice, even if it shakes. There are times when you will ask for change, and there are times when you’ll create it. —Allyson Felix,sprinter, to graduates of the University of Southern California
106 june 2023 ON DISPLAY AT the gallery Under the Mango Tree in Berlin until 12 July, this arresting panoramic photograph understandably headlines Amit Pasricha’s exhibition, Earth, Water, Air, Life. Managing Hope, which tries to encapsulate more than two decades of the Delhi-based photographer’s work across India. The universal appeal of the image lies in its ability to affect the viewer at multiple levels, and you get to pick the one that pleases you most. At first glance, it’s the stunning seascape and the balanced composition that attract the casual gallery goer. The sheer expanse that the eye takes in piecemeal encourages an intense feeling of fernweh— that deep sense of longing for travel to far off places that a beautiful scene in an exotic locale inspires. But as you delve deeper, a wave of wistfulness washes over, emphasized by the seemingly solitary human figures looking out over the vastness of the Coromandel coast. The scale of the artwork gives you that same sense of being an insignificant speck in the STUDIO Broken Chola Temple, Tarangambadi by Amit Pasricha Archival Inks Printed on Canvas 190 x 64 cm Reader’s Digest
readersdigest.in 107 Culturescape universe, that looking far out into the cosmos gives the astronomer. It seems to transcend not only space but time too, transporting you to an age when Tamil Nadu was a hub of trade, cultural exchange and conquest and the temple builders perhaps guilty of hubris. Today, Pasricha’s photograph of the crumbling debris of an ancient Chola temple juxtaposed against the remnants of its foundations and shikhara reminds one of the greatness of the empire that once existed in Tarangambadi and beyond, several centuries ago. The wind from the stormy skies above seems to whisper tales of their influence on south-eastern Asia and eastern Asia across the Bay of Bengal from where the photographer stood to compose this image. The Danes built their Fort Dansborg in Tarangambadi (which they called Tranquebar) but in this composite shot, the focus is on the continuum between the broken Chola empire of yore and the sea as it lives and breathes today. On purpose, the textured grittiness of his photograph almost brings you the taste of the salt in the air and the sounds of the crashing waves on the ageold temple rocks. It’s Pasricha’s way of reinforcing one’s respect for nature as a monumental force. And yet, at the same, time, he reminds you of its fragility through his frame, as thoughts of rising sea levels and the impact of climate change subtly swirl at the edge of your perception. As with many of his other panoramic photos, Pasricha achieves a certain timelessness even as he captures a moment in time. photograph by amit pasricha; image courtesy: gallery under the mango tree, berlin — BY PRIYA PATHIYAN
108 june 2023 Original, entertaining and epic, Siddharth Deb’s first novel in 15 years will not disappoint REVIEW If ambition is considered the primary marker of literary worth, we can safely say this: Siddhartha Deb’s third novel The Light at the End of the World is one of the most original works of fiction to come out of India these last few years. The four novella-length sections that make up this book are all set in different parts of India at different points in time. Taken in conjunction, they present an unforgettable picture of India perpetually under siege but also perpetually rebelling to free itself, whether the adversaries be white-skinned colonizers in the past or brown-skinned CEO robber-barons in the present. In the opening section ‘City of Brume’ (set in the Delhi of the near-future) we meet former journalist Bibi, tasked with finding her ex-colleague Sanjeet because his conspiracy theories are proving to be inconvenient to Bibi’s present-day clients, a shadowy mega-corporation called Vimana. In ‘Claustropolis: 1984’ we meet an assassin hot on the trail of his target, a whistle-blower threatening to expose security vulnerabilities at the Union Carbide plant in Bhopal. ‘Paranoir: 1947’ follows a conscientious young veterinary student in 40s Calcutta as his work connects him to the mythical Vimana, the vehicle of the gods— which may yet prevent the looming genocide in the Indian subcontinent. And finally, ‘The Line of Faith: 1859’ sees a British soldier on a quest to locate a legendary anticolonial rebel called the White Mughal—whose rebel army isn’t what it appears to be. There are common themes across all four sections—quests, outBreaking New Ground By Aditya Mani Jha Author Siddharth Deb photo: nina subin
Reader’s Digest readersdigest.in 109 ‘manufactured wars’ and government conspiracy theories, a la X-Files (the connection with the TV show is even referred to directly by Deb in the first section). But each section has a different voice and a unique narrator with unique motivations and points of view. Deb’s voice is strong, assured and malleable, equally effective while dissecting a marriage as it is satirizing governmental overreach or media frenzies. He is also a bit of a throwback in this era of short, clipped sentences—he is not shy of unleashing serpentine, multi-clause phrasings that engulf several worlds within its coil. Like this 95-word monster that begins by describing the Delhi winter fog and ends with an indictment of India’s political and media ecosystems: “The fog is a paintbrush, erasing the marks on an old, muchused canvas, erasing the streets, the cars, the malls, the hotels, the schools, the slums, the ministry buildings, the police cells, the army bases, the airport, the aircrafts, the malice of the glossy-haired anchor, the banal evil of the mask-like prime minister, erasing the ruins from the 20th century, the ruins from the 16th century, the ruins from the 11th century and the ruins from the third century BCE, erasing a countryside already erased and erasing a nation that has failed by every measure.” I’m not a 100 per cent sure if the ‘banal evil’ bit is a deliberate nod to Hannah Arendt (whose Eichmann in Jerusalem: A Report on The Banality of Evil is one of the more famous books on the Nazis). But I would be inclined to say so, because Deb’s kaleidoscopic novel is extremely good at incorporating academic concepts within its narrative framework. For example, the real-life case of ‘The Monkey Man’ is a prominent plot device and at one point, Deb offers up the following: “A sociologist at JNU suggested that the New Delhi Monkey Man was a case of the return of the repressed, an eruption of the uncanny, an embodiment of all those marginalized people ... feared by urban, upwardly mobile India.” This is a reference to the real-life Aditya Nigam’s essay Theatre of the Urban: The Strange Case of the Monkeyman, which Deb summarizes in the paragraph quoted above. The Light at the End of the World is full of fun little segues like this, ‘deviations’ from the centre that are, in fact, not deviations at all. Rather, they’re vital, supremely entertaining parts of this puzzle-box of a novel. And the payoff to this puzzle is spectacular, trust me.
110 june 2023 BRAIN TEASERS 554234 331411 232122 444342 512345 45452 Fun At The Fair easy Mira is taking Adeel, Bobby, Caroline and Didi to the fairgrounds for a fun trip to celebrate the start of summer. Each child has a favourite food and carnival ride. With the clues below, can you figure out what each child’s choice of snack and ride is? The choices are: roller coasters, the Ferris wheel, bumper cars, merry-go-round, cotton candy, hot dogs, ice cream and candy apples. 1. The one who likes roller coasters also likes cotton candy. 2. The one who likes the Ferris wheel hates hot dogs and ice cream. 3. Adeel thinks the Ferris wheel is too slow and the roller coaster is too fast. 4. One child likes bumper cars and hot dogs. 5. Bobby can’t wait to get to the merrygo-round. 6. Caroline likes to be high above everyone on the Ferris wheel. Number Maze medium In this maze, start at the 5 in the topleft corner and move horizontally or vertically (but never diagonally) to reach the star in the bottom-right corner. At each move, travel in only one direction the same number of squares as the number in the cell you are currently on. Since you are starting on a cell containing 5, your next move is either 5 squares to the right or 5 squares down. The next move will be based on your new cell’s number. Can you find the path? FUN AT THE FAIR BY BETH SHILLIBEER; NUMBER MAZE BY FRASER SIMPSON
readersdigest.in 111 Reader’s Digest C C B C A A 1 1 3 9 5 7 7 ? 9 9 11 4 Good Luck difficult Using two simple calculations, each number on the left is transformed to the one on the right. What is the missing number for 7? Hint: If you start with a low number, the second step doesn’t do anything much. Alterations While You Wait medium You’re in need of a 20 in a hurry, and all you have is a 1. You can change the number you have into a new number in any of the following ways, but it’s going to cost you: Set Free difficult Place an A, B or C in each empty cell of this grid. No three consecutive cells in a horizontal, vertical or diagonal line may contain a set of identical letters (such as B-B-B) or a set of three different letters (such as C-A-B). Can you ensure a set-free grid? Ê Add 5: `15 Ê Divide by 2: `3 Ê Subtract 4: `2 Ê Multiply by 3: `8 Ê Add 7: `13 Ê Subtract 6: `4 ÊMultiply by 5: `24 ÊSubtract 1: `5 What’s the cheapest way you can get exactly 20? GOOD LUCK BY DARREN RIGBY; SET FREE BY FRASER SIMPSON; ALTERATIONS WHILE YOU WAIT BY DARREN RIGBY For answers, turn to page 112
112 june 2023 Reader’s Digest 8 24 2 9 74 1 59 83 2 6 75 9 61 4 135 16 2 8 2 9 839247651 265981734 174365892 517834269 386129475 492576183 948713526 751692348 623458917 SOLUTION AACA BCCB ACAA AACA SUDOKU BY Louis-Luc Beaudoin To Solve This Puzzle Put a number from 1 to 9 in each empty square so that: Ê every horizontal row and vertical column contains all nine numbers (1-9) without repeating any of them; Ê each of the outlined 3 x 3 boxes has all nine numbers, none repeated. Fun At The Fair Adeel likes hot dogs and bumper cars; Bobby likes ice cream and the merry-goround; Caroline likes candy apples and the Ferris wheel; Didi likes cotton candy and the roller coaster. Number Maze The correct sequence of moves is: down 5, right 4, left 2, up 4, left 1, down 3, up 1, right 4, down 2. Good Luck 7 13. Square the number, then add up the digits in your answer. Set Free Alterations While You Wait Add 7 (8, `13), multiply by 3 (24, `21), subtract 4 (20, `23). From pages 110 and 111 BRAIN TEASERS ANSWERS
readersdigest.in 113 1. aphid n. (‘ay-fuhd) a sap-sucking insect b algae-eating fish c flowering shrub 2. egret n. (‘ee-greht) a bad decision b small cove c white heron 3. smite v. (smyt) a strike sharply b secure with rope c ascend 4. leery adj. (‘lihr-ree) a intoxicated b wary c poorly made WORD POWER 9. biome n. (‘by-ohm) a biogeographic unit b group of stars c couples yoga 10. whelp n. (welp) a scar b puppy c slap 11. abase v. (uh-’bais) a defend b remove c humiliate 12. epoxy n. (i-’pahk-see) a class of adhesive b type of viral disease c period of history 13. grimy adj. (‘gry-mee) a uninviting b covered with dirt c pained 14. agate n. (‘a-guht) a arched doorway b sour berry c ornamental stone 15. rebus n. (‘ree-buhs) a riddle made of pictures b twin c male crow 5. tapir n.(‘tay-pr) a Velcro-like fastener b nocturnal mammal c ceramic cookware 6. duchy n. (‘duh-chee) a land of duke or duchess b savoury puff pastry c motorized bicycle 7. tilde n. (‘tihl-duh) a whirlpool b accent mark in Spanish c tiered fountain 8. axiom n. (‘ak-see-uhm) a bridge support beam b sub-atomic particle c established truism You don’t have to play Wordle to do well on this quiz, which features past answers to the popular online game that gives players six guesses to identify a five-letter word. Will you share your success on social media or erase your stats? When you’re done, turn the page to find the answers. Ready? Begin! By Rob Lutes Reader’s Digest
Reader’s Digest 114 june 2023 1. aphid (a) sap-sucking insect Drought led to an aphid infestation that threatened the potato crop. 2. egret(c) white heron From the shore, Lucky watched the egret catch fish in the shallows. 3. smite(a) strike sharply The knight drew his sword to smite the beast. 4. leery (b) wary I’m leery of my roommate’s cat, which always seems ready to pounce. 5. tapir (b) nocturnal mammal On an evening hike in Colombia, Fiza spotted the tracks of a rare tapir. 6. duchy (a)land of duke or duchess The Duchy of Cornwall is worth more than $1 billion. 7. tilde (b) accent mark in Spanish Avrati lost a point on her exam for missing a tilde on the word señor. 8. axiom (c) established truism The axiom that a large fire can come from a tiny spark proved true when Amit’s cigarette caused an inferno. 9. biome (a) biogeographic unit The tundra biome is home to woodland animals such as caribou. 10. whelp (b) puppy At the sound of the train, the whelp retreated behind its mother in fear. 11. abase (c) humiliate Shahid refused to abase himself, so he quit the demeaning job after one day. 12. epoxy (a) class of adhesive Epoxy adheres to wood better than glue does. 13. grimy (b) covered with dirt Smriti struggled to hide her dismay at her boyfriend’s grimy apartment. 14. agate (c) ornamental stone The statuette carved from multicoloured agate sat proudly on the mantel. 15. rebus (a) riddle made of pictures Sandro made the scavenger hunt trickier by using rebuses for the clues. Word Power ANSWERS Vocabulary Ratings 9 & below: Phew! 10-12: Splendid 13-15:Magnificent ISSARAWAT TATTONG/GETTY IMAGES (MOBILE PHONE), COURTESY NATIONAL GALLERY OF ART, WASHINGTON (FLOWERS IN A ROCOCO VASE BY PAUL C ÉZANNE) Your Daily Fix with All the Fixings You’ve done the Wordle of the day. Now what? Thankfully, there are spinoffs that can tide you over—or become your new favourite. For more words, try Quordle, which has you guess four five-letter words simultaneously. Art buffs might like Artle, in which you name an artist after seeing up to four of their works. Music lovers, try Heardle to quickly name that tune after hearing as little of it as possible.
readersdigest.in 115 1. What Guinness world record did actor John Cena set in 2022 for his work with the Make-AWish Foundation? 2. Bloomberg Philanthropies’ Asphalt Art Initiative has awarded 19 European cities grants to do what in 2023? 3. Developed in the late 1930s, what sport is played on horseback, using a stick to capture the ball and score? 4. What chocolate bar has a version infused with sake, giving it an alcohol content of up to 0.8 per cent? 5. Which seabird will fly the equivalent distance of nearly three times to the moon and back over its 30-year lifespan? 6. Trucks playing Beethoven’s ‘Für Elise’ travel through Taiwan gathering what? 7. What does it mean if a docked ship is flying the maritime-signal flag ‘Blue Peter’? 8. Which country shares a border with every other South American country except Ecuador and Chile? 9. Mr Potato Head had a body made of what until 1964? 10. What global milestone did the human race reach on 15 November 2022? 11. In 1894, Luis Coloma rewrote the story of Ratoncito Pérez to comfort eight-yearold King Alfonso XIII of Spain when he lost what? 12. Ancient cultures were known to use what sweet and sticky substance as a food preservative? 13. Museums in Toronto and New York are employing what smartphone technology to superimpose images on nature and colourize ancient sculptures in many of their exhibits? 14. Cleopatra had her portrait carved into what gemstones? 15. Who wrote the “No. 1” book series, about a Botswanan woman who opens an investigative business? TRIVIA Arctic 5. Kit Kat. 4. Polocrosse. 3. Paint public murals. 2. Most wishes granted (650). Answers: 1. A population of eight 10. A real potato. 9. Brazil. 8. Ready to sail, all aboard. 7. Garbage. 6. tern. Augmented real- 13. Honey (its high sugar content kills micro-organisms). 12. A tooth. 11. billion. Alexander McCall Smith (No. 1 Ladies’ Detective Agency). 15. Emeralds. 14. ity. BY Beth Shillibeer CTRPHOTOS/GETTY IMAGES
116 june 2023 Reader’s Digest A Trusted Friend in a Complicated World Lost and Found by Deshi Deng, exclusively for Reader’s Digest